Thomas Jefferson

On December 8, 1801, Thomas Jefferson said, in his First Annual Message to Congress as president of the United States:

“Infractions of [the Constitution] may sometimes be committed from inadvertence, sometimes from the panic or passions of the moment. To correct these with good faith as soon as discovered will be an assurance to the states that, far from meaning to impair that sacred charter of its authorities, the General government views it as the principle of its own life.”